AI MOLDOVA CONDAMNĂ MANIFESTĂRILE DE DISCRIMINARE RELIGIOASĂ ŞI ANTISEMITISM

Autorităţile moldoveneşti tolerează discriminarea religioasă şi antisemitismul prin inacţiunea admisă de colaboratorii poliţiei, a declarat organizaţia de apărare a drepturilor omului Amnesty International Moldova cu referinţă la acţiunile antisemite din centrul Chişinăului desfăşurate de activiştii ortodocşi.

Pe data de 13 decembrie 2009, un grup de enoriaşi, conduşi de Anatolie Cibric, au devastat sfeşnicul Hanukkiah instalat anterior de comunitatea evreiască în scuarul Europei din Chişinău. Acţiunile şi declaraţiile protoiereului denotă caracterul premeditat şi planificat al acestor acţiuni, care au fost tolerate de către colaboratorii poliţiei aflaţi în exerciţiul funcţiei.

Amnesty International Moldova consideră acţiunile enoriaşilor ortodocşi un exemplu vădit de antisemitism şi instigare la ură faţă de minorităţile naţionale şi religioase, inclusiv de profanare a simbolurilor religioase. Autorităţile trebuie să prevină şi stopeze asemenea acţiuni, să asigure apărarea drepturilor şi libertăţilor fundamentale ale omului, inclusiv a libertăţilor religioase, prin implementarea mecanismelor prevăzute de actele internaţionale la care Republica Moldova este parte. Poliţia nu a întreprins nimic pentru a opri actul de vandalism din partea enoriaşilor creştini şi acest fapt devine o practică respândită în Republica Moldova.

În timpul marşului din 2008 în susţinerea legii antidiscriminare poliţia nu a apărat manifestanţii de contramanifestanţi. În februarie 2009, poliţia nu a fost prezentă în faţa Procuraturii Generale, atunci când un grup de persoane mascate au atacat apărătorii drepturilor omului ce au organizat un marş în susţinerea libertăţii întrunirilor.

În aprilie 2009, poliţia nu a reuşit să asigure protecţia sediilor Parlamentului şi Preşedinţiei, iar în august 2009 au declarat că nu vor putea asigura ordinea publică în cadrul întrunirii adventiştilor. Una din principalele obligaţii ale poliţiei este de curma infracţiunile. Poliţia trebuie să apere cetăţenii indiferent de situaţia lor socială, de apartenenţa naţională, de rasă, de sex şi vîrstă, de atitudinea faţă de religie, de convingerile politice şi de altă natură. Iar atunci când poliţiştii nu reuşesc să-şi îndeplinească obligaţiile, aceştia trebuie să fie traşi la răspundere. Toate cazurile de inacţiune a poliţiei trezesc îndoieli privind pregătirea profesională a poliţiştilor, inclusiv pregătirea juridică şi atitudinea acestora faţă de legislaţia în vigoare.

„Autorităţile sunt obligate să dea dovadă de fermitate în apărarea valorilor libertăţii de conştiinţă şi să garanteze comunităţilor religioase din Moldova apărarea drepturilor şi intereselor lor legitime. Amnesty International Moldova îndeamnă autorităţile să cerceteze minuţios premisele posibilelor confruntări religioase în viitor şi să condamne prompt extremismul ortodox, demonstrînd în practică apărarea de către instituţiile publice a libertăţilor de conştiinţă şi religioase în Moldova”, a declarat Victor Suruceanu, Director Executiv Interimar Amnesty International Moldova.

Death Penalty action in Chisinau

Death Penalty is still an issue for many countries even in the 21st century. According to Amnesty International Annual Reports show that even economically developed countries apply death penalty. It is a shame that death penalty exists even in Europe, Belarus for example. USA and Japan also apply death penalty.

We collected signatures and spread materials, but not everyone was really understanding. Many people consider that death penalty should be applied. Amensty has a different opinion.

Human rights are difficult to be understood by some people, but we believe that some day things will start to change.

for more information visit the official website
http://amnesty.md/news/actaim.php?ln=ro&id=134

Stop Violence Against Women Action, 31.08.2009

Amnesty International Moldova organized an amazing public action on the 31st of August, in the centre of Chisinau. As usual this is the SVAW day and we always try to maintain our tradition to organize a public action.

This year the topic was mostly on women's health. We decided to collect signatures against the prohibition of abortions in Nicaragua and death penalty in Iran for adulter. We consider that it is unacceptable that there are countries that still refuse to apply the human rights standards.

It is always very interesting to see the reaction of people when you ask them to sign a petition on a very delicate topic. And it may seem strange, but violence against women is still debated in Moldova. There are opinions that say that this is an involvement into a family's life, but we believe that this is just human rights and should be applicable the same to everyone.

here uou can find a detailed information
http://amnesty.md/news/actaim.php?ln=ro&id=131

SVAW in Balti

Balti has an amazing Amnesty group. Young people in Balti are very active an willing to organize a lot of public actions. They are definitly a great example of human rights defenders. More than that, they succeed in collecting an impressive number of signatures.

This time they organized an action that was a part of the SVAW campaign. With the help of the main office from Chisinau, they organized an amazing action, collected signatures and spread over 1000 informative materials.

A group of 15 young people in yellow T-shirts was something unusual for Balti, that is why people were very interested to see what they do.

If you stay in Balti, you can also become an activist there. Just contact us for more information.
http://amnesty.md/news/actaim.php?ln=ro&id=132

Freedom of assembly in Moldova is violated

COMUNICAT DE PRESĂ

№ 74/09 din 25 august 2009

MOLDOVA: AUTORITĂŢILE SE ESCHIVEAZĂ DE LA PROTECŢIA ORDINII PUBLICE ŞI INTERZIC ÎNTRUNIRILE

Autorităţile moldoveneşti continuă să împiedice desfăşurarea paşnică a întrunirilor publice şi exprimarea opiniilor, discriminînd minorităţile, a declarat organizaţia de apărare a drepturilor omului Amnesty International Moldova cu referinţă la interzicerea de către instanţele de judecată a întrunirii bisericii creştine „Adventiştii de ziua a şaptea” în centrul Chişinăului.

Evenimentul urma să se desfăşoare pe 15 august în Piaţa Marii Adunări Naţionale (PMAN) din Chişinău. În această zi, reprezentanţii bisericii creştine „Adventiştii de ziua a şaptea” intenţionau să organizeze o întrunire în cadrul proiectului internaţional „Urmează Cartea Cărţilor”. Se presupunea desfăşurarea unui concert şi o expoziţie a Bibliei, fiecare din cărţile ce o formează fiind scrisă în diferite limbi – în total în 66 limbi ale lumii. Încă pe data de 10 iunie organizatorii au informat Primăria mun. Chişinău despre planurile acestora. Pe 17 iunie Primăria a emis un ordin pentru serviciile orăşeneşti cu scopul acordării ajutorului necesar în desfăşurarea întrunirii.

Cu toate acestea, la începutul lunii august, cu cîteva zile înainte de întrunire, Primăria s-a adresat în judecată cu cererea de modificare a locului desfăşurării întrunirii. Primăria şi-a motivat solicitarea prin adresările primite din partea conducerii şi credincioşilor Bisericii Ortodoxe „Mitropolia Chişinăului şi a întregii Moldove”. În aceste adresări se făcea apel la faptul că 93% din populaţia Moldovei este creştin ortodoxă. Totodată, se evidenţia faptul că desfăşurarea unei astfel de întruniri în PMAN Chişinău, în apropierea Catedralei, va duce la perturbarea moralităţii şi va genera tulburări în masă, violenţă, conflicte şi dezordini.

„Se observă tendinţa că în Chişinău autorităţile fac un pas în urmă şi limitează libertatea întrunirilor, sau nu asigură protecţia necesară manifestanţilor, în cazul în care parvin mesaje despre potenţiali contra-manifestanţi. Este o practică defectuoasă. Autorităţile trebuie să demonstreze fermitate în respectarea libertăţii întrunirilor paşnice şi exprimării în baza egalităţii şi nediscriminării faţă de minorităţi”, a afirmat Evghenii Goloşceapov, Directorul Executiv Amnesty International Moldova.

Pe 12 august, Curtea de Apel din Chişinău a emis hotărîrea de a interzice desfăşurarea întrunirii adventiştilor în PMAN şi de a transfera locul desfăşurării acesteia în Teatrul Verde – un loc izolat într-o zonă de parc, cu puţini trecători. Mai tîrziu Curtea Supremă de Justiţie a susţinut şi a lăsat hotărîrea în vigoare.

Prin acţiunile sale, Primăria şi instanţele de judecată naţionale au limitat neîntemeiat şi prin aceasta au încălcat dreptul la libertatea întrunirilor şi de exprimare a reprezentanţilor bisericii creştine „Adventiştii de ziua a şaptea”. Astfel au fost create premise pentru un caz de perspectivă împotriva Moldovei la Curtea Europeană a Drepturilor Omului.

„Dacă există pericolul dezordinilor, atunci autorităţile, iar în parte poliţia, sunt obligate să se pregătească şi să apere manifestanţii de atacanţi, dar nu să interzică întrunirile şi să se eschiveze de la realizarea obligaţiilor lor de protejare a ordinii publice. Autorităţile trebuie să asigure protecţie indiferent de acordul sau dezacordul majorităţii populaţiei cu opiniile exprimate în cadrul întrunirilor”, a adăugat Evghenii Goloşceapov.

Legea cu privire la întruniri este un document progresiv, dar problema constă în realizarea neefectivă a acesteia în practică. Din această cauză autorităţile trebuie să demonstreze voinţă pentru realizarea completă a acestei legi pentru toate grupurile de populaţie, şi să nu se lase influenţaţi de cei care îndeamnă la modificarea acesteia, astfel limitînd libertatea întrunirilor

*******

Pe 11 mai 2008 Primăria Chişinău a încercat să interzică, iar poliţia nu a asigurat protecţia participanţilor marşului în susţinerea legislaţiei antidiscriminatorii, organizată de Centrul de Informaţii „GenderDoc-M”.

Pe 13 august 2009 poliţia nu a asigurat ordinea în timpul desfăşurării întrunirii bisericii creştine „Adventiştii de ziua a şaptea” în centrul oraşului Bălţi. În Chişinău, desfăşurarea pe 15 august a unei întruniri similare în centrul oraşului a fost interzisă din cauza pericolului contra-manifestărilor. În acelaşi timp, nu a parvenit niciun mesaj cu privire la probleme în pregătirea şi desfăşurarea unor întuniri analogice, organizate de biserica creştină „Adventiştii de ziua a şaptea” în Cahul, Comrat şi Tiraspol în perioada 10-12 august 2009.

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ПРЕСС-РЕЛИЗ

№ 74/09 от 25 августа 2009

МОЛДОВА: ВЛАСТИ УКЛОНЯЮТСЯ ОТ ЗАЩИТЫ ОБЩЕСТВЕННОГО ПОРЯДКА И ЗАПРЕЩАЮТ СОБРАНИЯ

Молдавские власти продолжают препятствовать мирному проведению собраний и выражению взглядов, дискриминируя меньшинства, заявила правозащитная организация Amnesty International Moldova в связи с тем, что судебные инстанции запретили собрание христианской церкви «Адвентисты седьмого дня» в центре Кишинёва.

Мероприятие планировалось провести 15 августа на центральной площади Кишинёва. В этот день представители христианской церкви «Адвентисты седьмого дня» намеревались организовать собрание в рамках международного проекта «Следуй за Библией». Предполагалось провести концерт и выставку издания Библии, каждая книга которой написана на отдельном языке – всего на 66 языках мира. Организаторы уведомили Примэрию Кишинёва о своих планах ещё 10 июня. 17 июня Примэрия издала распоряжение для городских служб с целью оказать необходимую помощь в организации собрания.

Однако, в начале августа, за несколько дней до собрания, Примэрия обратилась в суд с требованием изменить место проведения собрания. Примэрия мотивировала своё требование обращениями, полученными от руководства и верующих Православной церкви «Митрополия Кишинёва и всея Молдовы». В этих обращениях делалась ссылка на то, что 93% жителей Молдовы являются православными христианами. Также в них говорилось о том, что проведение подобного собрания на центральной площади Кишинёва недалеко от православного Кафедрального собора приведёт к нарушению общественной морали и может вызвать массовые волнения, насилие, столкновения и беспорядки.

«Наметилась тенденция того, что в Кишинёве власти дают задний ход и ограничивают свободу собраний или не обеспечивают должную защиту демонстрантам, если поступают сообщения о возможных контр-манифестациях. Это порочная практика. Власти должны проявлять твёрдость в соблюдении свободы мирных собраний и выражения мнения на основе равенства и недискриминации в отношении меньшинств», - заявил Евгений Голощапов, Исполнительный директор Amnesty International Moldova.

12 августа Апелляционная палата столицы вынесла решение запретить проведение собрания адвентистов на центральной площади и перенести место его проведения в Зелёный театр – удалённое место в парковой зоне с малым количеством прохожих. Позже Высшая судебная палата поддержала и оставила это решение в силе.

Своими действиями Примэрия и национальные суды на ровном месте, необоснованно ограничили и этим нарушили право на свободу собраний и выражения мнения представителей христианской церкви «Адвентисты седьмого дня». Они создали предпосылки для нового перспективного дела против Молдовы в Европейском суде по правам человека.

«Если существует угроза беспорядков, то власти, в частности полиция, обязаны подготовиться и защитить манифестантов от нападающих, а не запрещать собрания и уклоняться от выполнения своих обязанностей по защите общественного порядка. Власти обязаны обеспечить защиту независимо от того, согласно или несогласно большинство населения с идеями, выражаемыми во время собрания», - добавил Евгений Голощапов.

Закон «О собраниях» - прогрессивный документ, проблема состоит в его не всегда эффективной реализации на практике. Поэтому властям следует проявить волю к полной реализации это закона для всех групп населения, и не идти на поводу у тех, кто призывает изменить его и тем самым ограничить свободу собраний.

*************

11 мая 2008 Примэрия Кишинёва попыталась запретить, а полиция не обеспечила защиту участникам марша в поддержку антидискриминационного законодательства, организованного Информационным центром GenderDoc-M.

13 августа 2009 полиция не обеспечила должного порядка во время проведения собрания, организованного христианской церковью «Адвентисты седьмого дня» в центре Бельц. В Кишинёве подобное собрание вовсе запретили проводить 15 августа 2009 в центре города в связи с угрозами контр-манифестаций. Вместе с тем, не поступало никаких сообщений о проблемах при подготовке и проведении аналогичных собраний, организованных христианской церковью «Адвентисты седьмого дня» в Кагуле, Комрате и Тирасполе с 10 по 12 августа 2009.

Summer Camp 2009 Amnesty International Moldova

International Summer Camp 2009 Amnesty International Moldova, 3-7 august

The annual summer camp took place recently at Vadul lui Voda. It was an amazing time spent with some crazy people :) In fact I can't compare it to any other camps, because the atmosphere was really friendly and people were willing to work, to do something for 24 hours. The civil activism was really at the highest point in everyone.

We have learned so many things in just 4 days. It was great that this time we had also non-formal education style. There were a lot of sessions that needed some creativity and group work. Each person could express herself/himself in all kind of activity.

It was really fun and more progressive comparing to the previous camps. This was more varied, with more experts and new topics.

As the result we made a public action at the Vadul lui Voda beach in the evening.

Impreuna impotriva torturii - campaign

Together Against Torture!!! it was a campaign that took place during June 2009. Several organizations like Amnesty International Moldova, RCTV Memoria, IDOM, PromoLex, CREDO organized different public actions for supporting victims of torture all over the world, including Moldova.

There was a press conference were these NGO's presented their goals and motivation for this campaign.


There was another presentation of Amnesty International position, which was a mini report on April events.


There were three public actions for collecting signatures in Balti, Cahul and Comrat. In Cahul there was also a protest against Torture. But in Chisinau we made usual public action and collected over 1000 signatures on small petitions and over 500 on the big 4 petitions for Moldovan authorities.


There was also organized a round table for Implementation of UN CAT and OP CAT by RCTV Memoria. There were invited representatives from NGO's, lawyers, Minister of Interior, Department of Penitentiary Institutions and Prosecution. The public authorities as usual didn't want to recognize cases of torture. But we have hundreds of people we are claiming they were tortured during the April events.

The final event, was a public protest of these NGO's. We had several petitions that we gave to the prosecution and MIA. Here you can watch the video.

24-26th June 2009, Supporting Torture Victims Day

This is a special day for Amnesty International and everyone in the world that supports Torture Victims.

Amnesty International Moldova has made an amazing campaign together with a group of NGO's for this occasion. But we also made two public actions that involved a lot of people and had a great impact.

The biggest one took place in Balti. We had a lot of volunteers from the local group from Balti. These are young from local schools and universities. We collected 1600 signatures which is an amazing number. And spread a big amount of informative materials. The people there are really isolated and have no access to information. That is why they were very interested in finding out something new and supporting such a good cause.

The police in Balti was really nice to us. There was a situation when a man started provoking us, he was screaming really loud and we called the police and they immediately took him away. He was really disturbing.



On the 26th of June, the same action took place in Chisinau. We had volunteers from other organizations and they really did a great job.
We collected over 1000 signatures just in 2 hours. Which is also a great result. And we completed the big petitions for the Moldovan authorities.

Picketing of the Chinese Embassy

On the 2nd of June 2009, we had a public action in front of the Chinese Embassy. This is already a traditional action of AI members all around the world. Chinese authorities still don't want to recognize the massive human rights violations and don't really want to change anything.

China has a lot of problems. A big part of human rights violations that AI is concerned about also take place in China. Like death penalty, torture, svaw, human rights defenders, internally displaced persons, poverty, economical, social rights etc.

It is very hard to make a change in China as long as the authorities don't care about human rights violations. But still for already 20 years Amnesty International organizes public actions in front of Chinese Embassies every year in almost every country.


Check out what the Annual Report 2009 Amnesty International says about China

Annual Report 2009 Amnesty International

Moldova

Head of state Vladimir Voronin

Head of government Zinaida Greceanîi (replaced Vasile Tarlev in March)
Death penalty abolitionist for all crimes
Population 3.8 million
Life expectancy 68.4 years
Under-5 mortality (m/f) 21/17 per 1,000
Adult literacy 99.1 per cent

There were continuing reports of torture and other ill-treatment and the perpetrators continued to enjoy impunity. A progressive new law on freedom of assembly was introduced, but practice and attitudes failed to keep pace with these changes. International bodies commented that certain groups suffered discrimination, and acts of racial discrimination were not prosecuted effectively.

Torture and other ill-treatment

On 14 March, the parliament passed a law which could help to prevent torture and reduce impunity for torture and other ill-treatment. Among the changes, the Criminal Procedural Code was amended so that the institution in which the alleged victim was detained had to prove that the torture and other ill-treatment did not occur. Previously, the burden of proof had lain with the victims, who had to prove that they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated.

The Consultative Council within the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s office, which is intended to monitor places of detention in accordance with Moldova’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, was functional by March. However, concerns remained that the Council was not adequately funded or sufficiently independent from the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s office. There were continued reports of torture and other ill-treatment in police custody.

"Perpetrators of torture and other ill-treatment continued to enjoy impunity..."

• In February, brothers Vasiliu and Petru Livadari were allegedly beaten by staff in Cricova prison because of their complaints about their treatment and conditions in prison. After they complained to the Ombudsman they were reportedly threatened that they would be beaten to death. On the insistence of the Ombudsman, the two prisoners were moved, but the prosecutors who arrived at Cricova prison to investigate the allegations tried to dissuade the brothers from making a complaint. On 6 March, the Ministry of Justice, which has jurisdiction over the prison service in Moldova, stated that Vasiliu and Petru Livadari had been transferred to a prison hospital where they were receiving medical treatment, but that there was no evidence that they had been ill-treated. However, the Prosecutor General’s office announced on 4 April that two prison officers had been charged with torture under Article 309/1 of the Criminal Code. The case was ongoing at the end of the year.

Impunity

Perpetrators of torture and other ill-treatment continued to enjoy impunity because of a flawed and ineffective system of investigations, and a lack of political will to prosecute the perpetrators.

• In February, Viorica Plate informed Amnesty International that she and her lawyer had been harassed by police. Viorica Plate had been tortured by police officers in Chişinău in May 2007, and on 1 November 2007 two of the officers were sentenced to six years’ imprisonment and one was given a suspended sentence. She accused the police officers who had been convicted of torturing her of harassment, and said that two of the officers had not been detained. On 6 March, the Prosecutor General’s Office said that the officers in question had not been detained because they were appealing against their sentence, and that it was not considered necessary to take protective measures on behalf of Viorica Plate.


• On 23 June, the Chişinău Prosecutor’s Office again refused a request to open a criminal case concerning the allegations of torture made by Sergei Gurgurov. Sergei Gurgurov allegedly sustained head and spinal injuries at the hands of the police in Chişinău in October 2005 and had been left permanently disabled.

Freedom of expression

On 22 February, the Moldovan parliament passed a new law on assembly which came into force on 22 April. The new law, drafted after extensive consultation with civil society, was a significant step towards greater freedom of expression in Moldova. Organizers of public events have to inform local authorities of the event, but are no longer required to seek permission, and assemblies of fewer than 50 individuals can meet spontaneously without notification. The law also stipulates that assemblies can only be prohibited by a court. However, despite these progressive provisions, police and local authorities continued to restrict freedom of expression. According to monitoring carried out by a local NGO, the Resource Centre for Human Rights, police presence at demonstrations, the number of detentions and the use of force by police had increased since the new law came into force. People were prevented from demonstrating peacefully or detained for short periods if they did, although most prosecutions brought by the police were not upheld by the courts.

Several participants in a peaceful demonstration were injured by masked attackers in the capital, Chisinau.

© Amnesty International

• On 8 May, the Chişinău Mayor’s Office banned a demonstration by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists. The NGO GenderDoc-M had informed the Mayor’s office about its intention to demonstrate outside the Building of the Government in favour of the new anti-discrimination law. In a written notification the Mayor’s Office stated that religious organizations, school students and residents of the capital had reacted negatively to the planned demonstration and “accused sexual minorities of aggressiveness and violation of spiritual and moral values”. Therefore, to “avoid any tension in society”, it was necessary to prohibit the planned public meeting for the protection of the demonstrators. When the activists arrived close to the Building of the Government by bus on 11 May, they were surrounded by approximately 300 aggressive counter-demonstrators, who prevented them from leaving the bus. Onlookers reported that there were very few police officers present at the scene, and despite the rising tension they took no action to protect the LGBT activists, who were forced to leave the area. Nobody was injured.

• On 30 April, Oleg Brega of the freedom of expression organization Hyde Park was detained by police for protesting peacefully and alone in the centre of Chişinău on the anniversary of the founding of the state broadcasting company. Police tried to prevent him protesting and charged him with hooliganism. On 8 May, the court sentenced him to three days’ detention for swearing in public. His brother Ghenadie Brega was fined for protesting in public against Oleg Brega’s detention. Oleg Brega was acquitted by the Court of Appeal on 27 May.

Discrimination

On 29 April, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance published its third report on Moldova, and on 16 May the UN Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination published its concluding observations on the fifth to seventh periodic reports of Moldova. Both bodies expressed concern that existing legislation banning the incitement of racial, national and religious hatred was not being implemented, that Muslim ethnic minority organizations were being denied registration, and that acts of discrimination including racial discrimination by the police were not being prosecuted effectively.

In June, the Ministry of Justice circulated a draft Law on Preventing and Combating Discrimination for comment by civil society. The new law was based on international standards and was progressive in its inclusion of civil society in the drafting of the law. However, it concentrated on the negative obligation not to discriminate and did not include the positive duty to promote equality.

International justice

On 11 February, President Voronin submitted a bill for the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court to parliament. However, progress towards ratification continued to be slow. Moldova signed the Rome Statute in 2000, but it was not until 2006 that the Ministry of Justice drafted the ratification law. On 2 October 2007, the Constitutional Court ruled that Moldova could ratify the Rome Statute without requiring a change in the Constitution.

russian version

"Lawyers against torture" AIM Training

That was already the 11th training organized by Amnesty International Moldova, for lawyers from Moldova. As usual there were invited international experts with an impressive experience that shared this useful information with the participants.

There were so many lawyers present at this very important training. Those that have the most famous cases, people that you seen every day in the news. It was great that I got to know these people.

The experts were amazing, these are people that had learned so much and can share it with everyone. Elena Volochai is a medical expert from Ukraine, and Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou - a professor from an Irish University of EU law. That kind of people you won't find in Moldova.

I was taken as an assistant, but I participated in every part of the training and it was very interesting to me.

The verifications of the AIM documents by the tax inspectors

Evghenii Golosceapov describes the situation when several NGO's were supposed to a urgent verification of their tax documents. They received the same letters from the tax inspection and also from the Ministry of Justice regarding the measures they took to prevent the disorders. However it is not even their obligations, but they were even called organizers of the protests which is not true.

Moldova: Freedom of expression and assembly. Possible Prisoners of Conscience

On 5 April parliamentary elections were held in Moldova. According to the official count, the ruling communists won 49.9 per cent of the vote, which gave them a majority of 61 seats in the parliament.

As many as 15,000 people turned up at Great National Assembly square on 7 April and marched from there to the presidential and parliamentary buildings. By midday the demonstrations had turned violent. Following an initially peaceful stand-off between police and protesters on the steps of both buildings, the crowd began to push against the police line. Amnesty International staff witnessed objects being thrown by the crowd at the Presidential Administration building which was being guarded by riot police, including plastic and glass bottles, stones, eggs, bits of pavement and masonry. There are allegations that the violence was provoked by plain-clothed officers in the crowd. Despite a significant presence, riot police eventually retreated completely and demonstrators stormed both buildings. Offices were looted, fires were started and furniture and documents were thrown from windows. Both buildings remained mostly unguarded for the rest of the day.

SOURCE

Moldova: Civil society activists at risk of arrest

8 April 2009

Civil society activists should not be held responsible for the rioting that took place the day after a peaceful youth protest action on 6 April in the Moldovan capital of Chişinău, Amnesty International said today. If found guilty, they could face up to eight years’ imprisonment.

Amnesty International considers that they were exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and if arrested for organizing a peaceful assembly for which they had notified the authorities, Amnesty International will consider them to be prisoners of conscience.

“The Moldovan authorities are obliged to protect the right to freedom of expression and assembly,” said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“They must distinguish carefully between those who are suspected of having committed criminal acts and those who have exercised their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”

On 6 April, a group of civil society activists -- consisting of Elena Zgardan, Natalia Morari, Artur Gurău, Ion Ţărnă, Ghenadie Brega and others -- informed the authorities about a demonstration of several hundred people on the Great National Assembly Square around the Ştefan the Great monument near the government buildings in the centre of Chişinău. They intended to hold a “day of mourning” for the results of the parliamentary elections in Moldova on 5 April. They announced the vigil on social networking sites, by texting on mobile phones and by word of mouth. Natalia Morar told Amnesty International that they expected no more than 300 young people to come and were amazed when as many as 10,000 joined them, including the leaders of all major opposition parties. The organizers of the vigil asked everybody to leave at 20.00, but the political leaders present continued speaking to the crowd until 20.30 and then announced that there would be a meeting at 10.00 on the following morning before dispersing peacefully.

The proposed meeting on 7 April turned into violent rioting. That day, the General Prosecutor’s office published a press release announcing that the organizers and participants of the “day of mourning” had violated the provisions of the law on assemblies by failing to respect public order, involving minors, encouraging drunkenness and damaging public transport. The press release named Ghenadie Brega.

Amnesty International is concerned that there were reports of excessive use of force by police after riots on 7 April. Valentina Cusnir, an independent member of parliament, was near the main street of Chişinău at about midnight on 7 April. She told Amnesty International that she witnessed police beating up to five young people who had attempted to overturn a kiosk. She described how several policemen kicked one man “as if they were playing football”. She witnessed further beatings and saw how police officers fired guns into the air to intimidate the demonstrators. Valentina Cusnir reported that she was abused by a police officer who shouted “Take her too, the bitch!” He grabbed her by the arms and when she resisted the police officer pushed her to the ground and dragged her for about 200m before letting her go. She suffered bruises and swellings on her arms and back, and possible concussion when she hit her head on the pavement.

While Amnesty International understands the police have a responsibility to protect property and to guarantee public order, the organization urges the authorities to independently and thoroughly investigate reports of use of excessive force by police. Detainees should also be promptly charged with a recognizable criminal offence or released and granted access to lawyers, doctors, and to have their families informed about their detention.

Background
As many as 15,000 people turned up at Great National Assembly square on 7 April and marched from there to the presidential and parliamentary buildings. By midday the demonstrations had turned violent. Following an initially peaceful stand-off between police and protestors on the steps of both buildings, the crowd began to push against the police line. Amnesty International staff witnessed objects being thrown by the crowd at the Presidential Administration building which was being guarded by riot police, including plastic and glass bottles, stones, eggs, bits of pavement and masonry. There are allegations that the violence was provoked by plain-clothed officers in the crowd. Despite a significant presence, riot police eventually retreated completely and demonstrators stormed both buildings. Offices were looted, fires were started and furniture and documents were thrown from windows. Both buildings remained mostly unguarded for the rest of the day.

SOURCE

International Lobbying Training in Poland

This was an amazing training that took place during the 27th of February and the 2nd of March 2009.

This was a meeting of the lobbyist from several European Countries, that already have this experience of this program for some time. There were people from Poland:), Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Malta, Turkey and Moldova.

It is great that all the people are so intelligent, well mannered and know a lot of things. We had a great hotel and great food. We also visited an indian restaurant and and had vegetarian food every day. That was a great experience, there is no such level in Moldova.

We had some great sessions about the EU Office, International Secretariat and different stuff like how to build a strategy for achieving certain aim.

We shared the experience about how they manage to solve different problems, what kind of methods they use for lobbying. There are three general ways of activity for lobbying a certain thing in general:
1. Lobbying itself, which is working with the legislation, meeting with different important people.
2. Campaigning, which is the work with the public directly, informing the people, collecting signatures and stuff like that.
3. Mass Media, working with the press, making them interested in the problem and write about it everywhere, especially using the social communities and any kind of internet solutions.

SVAW: 8th of March

As it is an international women's day, we couldn't ignore it and decided to make an action regarding SVAW - stop violence against women.
This time the theme was about the sexual violations. Such kind of violence is well spread in Moldova as well, but a lot of married women just don't want to recognize it as sexual harassment.
We had two petitions on sexual violence in certain stats that have armed conflicts and were women's rights are not respected. The Government has to assure all the rights and shouldn't let the criminals do whatever they want in the conflict.
We have collected over 500 signatures and that is a great result.

Moldova: Enforced Disappearance / fear of torture and other ill-treatment: Gheorghe Ionel

On 27 February 2009, the whereabouts of Gheorghe Ionel, became unknown. Gheorghe Ionel is mayor of Vorniceni and a member of an opposition coalition. It is believed that he may have been abducted by law enforcement officers as he was last seen being forced by police officers into a car outside the court in Straşeni, where he had just been cleared of the charge of misusing his official position. Amnesty International fears that he may have been subjected to enforced disappearance and is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

source

3rd of February 2009

After the law on the freedom of assembly was adopted in February 2008. Since then it is considered that there even started to happen more violations than before. This was even recognized by several international reports and press releases, including Amnesty international.

After several random arrests of Anatol Matasaru, Hyde Park activists, Maia Laguta and others, a group of NGO's decided to organize a protest against the illegal actions of the police officers and the omission to protect the protesters.

There were NGO's like Amnesty International, Credo, Promo-lex, Hyde Park etc. that had organized this peaceful manifestation of their right of expression.

There were no policemen and that was very suspicious. Then suddenly a masked group of people had attacked the protesters with toxic sprays and started a violent fight. A lot of people were injured. but no policemen came to save us.

It was awful and till now we don't know who were those people.




The next day a press conference took place where the activists tried to explain the mistakes of the police and prosecution. All this took place in front of the general prosecution building. but nobody came out to stop it.

Police had to offer the proper protection, however they didn't even come to the event. Several policemen were filmed staying in a car behind the prosecution.

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Amnesty International a luat iar atitudine prompt şi categoric
Русский, Declaraţii editor 5 Feb 2009, 3:39pm

În urma evenimentelor din cadrul marşului de protest de pe 3 februarie, Amnesty International declară că eschivarea evidentă a poliţiei de a reacţiona la apelul persoanelor atacate, dar şi lipsa interesului pentru reţinerea făptaşilor, vorbesc despre presiunea asupra libertăţii de exprimare astăzi în Moldova.

Secretariatul International Amnesty International a emis al doilea comunicat de presă privind situaţia libertăţii de exprimare din Republica Moldova, exprimîndu-şi îngrijorarea pentru faptul că, în pofida noii Legi cu privire la întruniri, ce a intrat în vigoare în aprilie 2008, poliţia continuă să încalce dreptul la libera exprimare, reţinînd protestatarii paşnici.

Vedeţi mai jos comunicatul de presă Amnesty International:

Moldova: Libertatea de exprimare nu este protejată

Ieri, forţele de poliţie din Chişinău, nu au întreprins nici o acţiune atunci cînd Igor Grosu, preşedintele Consiliului Amnesty International Moldova, împreună cu alţi protestatari care participau la o demonstraţie paşnică, au fost răniţi de către nişte persoane mascate.

„Eschivarea evidentă a poliţiei de a reacţiona la apelul persoanelor atacate de a primi ajutor, dar şi lipsa interesului pentru reţinerea făptaşilor, vorbesc despre presiunea exercitată asupra libertăţii de exprimare astăzi în Moldova”, a declarat Nicola Duckworth, Directorul Programului pentru Europa şi Asia Centrală.

Manifestaţia a fost organizată de către Amnesty International Moldova, Centrul de Resurse pentru Drepturile Omului (CReDO), Hyde Park, Promo-Lex şi Institutul pentru Drepturile Omului din Moldova pentru a protesta împotriva eşecului precedent al poliţiei în susţinerea libertăţii de exprimare şi pentru a solicita reprezentanţilor Procuraturii Generale să investigheze aceste încălcări. În scurt timp, după ce s-au întrunit în faţa sediului Procuraturii Generale din centrul oraşului Chişinău, manifestanţii au fost atacaţi de aproximativ 10 bărbaţi, cîţiva dintre care purtau măşti. Aceştia au lovit şi stropit cu vopsea manifestanţii. Igor Grosu a fost atacat din spate şi lovit în regiunea capului. El a necesitat îngrijiri medicale la spital, fiindu-i aplicate cîteva cusături. Unul dintre membrii Comitetului Helsinki pentru Drepturile Omului a fost lovit în faţă.

Manifestanţii au solicitat intervenţia imediată a poliţiei, însă nimeni nu au venit în ajutor – chiar şi la o oră după incident. Acest caz vine în contrast cu situaţia lui Anatol Mătăsaru, atunci cînd el a desfăşurat pe 29 ianuarie de unul singul un protest legal şi paşnic şi forţele de poliţie au sosit în cîteva minute pentru a-l reţine. După ce manifestanţii au reuşit să alunge agresorii, poliţia a refuzat din nou să vină şi să colecteze probele rămase în urma incidentului (măşti şi balonaşe cu vopsea).

Amnesty International este extrem de îngrijorată de faptul că, în pofida noii Legi cu privire la întruniri, ce a intrat în vigoare în aprilie 2008, poliţia continuă să încalce dreptul la libera exprimare, reţinînd protestatarii paşnici, deşi majoritatea acuzaţiilor aduse de către poliţie nu sunt examinate de către instanţele de judecată. Potrivit monitorizării efectuate de către CReDO, prezenţa poliţiei la demonstraţii, numărul de reţineri şi utilizarea forţei de către poliţie au sporit de la intrarea în vigoare a legii.

Amnesty International face apel la Procuratura Generală a Republicii Moldova să investigheze cazurile raportate în care poliţia s-a eschivat de la apărarea drepturilor protestatarilor care acţionează în conformitate cu legea, precum şi cazurile raportate în care au fost interzise manifestaţiile, contrar Legii cu privire la întruniri.
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В рамках последних событий в сфере свободы собраний, Amnesty International заявляет, что очевидное нежелание полиции откликнуться на призыв о помощи со стороны подвергнувшихся нападению лиц, а также отсутствие интереса к задержанию виновников инцидента — всё это говорит о том, что на свободу выражения мнений в Молдове сегодня оказывается давление.

В пресс-релизе о событиях в Молдове Международный секретариат Amnesty International выражает свою озабоченность тем фактом, что, несмотря на то, что в апреле 2008 года вступил в силу новый прогрессивный закон о собраниях, полиция по-прежнему ущемляет свободу выражения мнений.

Ниже пресс-релиз Amnesty International:

Молдова: свобода выражения не защищена

Как стало известно, вчера полиция Кишинёва не стала вмешиваться, когда неизвестные лица напали на участников мирной демонстрации. Некоторые из них получили ранения, включая Председателя молдавского отделения Amnesty International Игоря Гросу.

«Очевидное нежелание полиции откликнуться на призыв о помощи со стороны подвергнувшихся нападению лиц, а также отсутствие интереса к задержанию виновников инцидента — всё это говорит о том, что на свободу выражения мнений в Молдове сегодня оказывается давление», — сказала Никола Дакворт, Директор программы Amnesty International по Европе и Центральной Азии.

Amnesty International Moldova, Ресурсный центр по правам человека («CReDO»), «Hyde Park», «Promo Lex», а также Институт по правам человека вышли на демонстрацию в знак протеста против неоднократно проявленного полицией нежелания защищать свободу выражения мнений. Демонстранты также намеревались потребовать от Генеральной прокуратуры расследовать указанные нарушения. Вскоре после того, как демонстранты собрались перед зданием Генеральной прокуратуры в центре Кишинёва, на них набросились около десяти человек, некоторые в масках. Они стали избивать демонстрантов и поливать их краской из баллончиков. На Игоря Гросу напали со спины, он получил травму головы и был вынужден обратиться в больницу, где ему наложили несколько швов. Члена «Хельсинского комитета за права человека» ударили по лицу.

Демонстранты немедленно вызвали полицию, но, как они рассказали, никто из сотрудников полиции не пришёл им на помощь даже спустя час после происшествия. В то же время, когда 29 января Анатолий Матасару устроил законную мирную акцию протеста (пикет из одного человека) перед зданием Генеральной прокуратуры, полиция появилась в считанные минуты и задержала его. После того, как участники демонстрации прогнали нападавших, полиция вновь отказалась приехать и собрать оставшиеся на месте улики (маски и баллончики с краской).

Amnesty International особо озабочена тем фактом, что, несмотря на то, что в апреле 2008 года вступил в силу новый прогрессивный закон о собраниях, полиция по-прежнему ущемляет свободу выражения мнений, задерживая мирных демонстрантов. При этом в большинстве случаев обвинения, выдвигаемые полицией, в суде отклоняются. По данным мониторинга, осуществляемого «CReDO», в действительности после принятия нового закона полицейское присутствие на демонстрациях лишь увеличилось, как возросло и количество задержаний, а также число случаев применения силы полицейскими.

Amnesty International призывает Генеральную прокуратуру Молдовы расследовать сообщения о том, что полиция уклонилась от выполнения своего долга по защите демонстрантов и установлении личностей нападавших, а также сообщения об имевших место ранее случаях запрета демонстраций вопреки закону «О собраниях».

Inna Guleac,
Press Officer,
Amnesty International Moldova

Lobbying: 1st mission

My first mission was to translate and make a certain order the recommendations from Amnesty International regarding the National Plan of Actions in the Human Rights Field for 2009-2012.

There were three directions: International Justice- ratification of Roman Statute.
Freedom of Assembly and torture and inhuman treatment.

I translated everything in Romanian and added those points that were missing. After that we went to the Ministry of Justice which elaborates the legal projects in Moldova and had a meeting with several representatives from there. That was an important discussion as we could share our ideas regarding everything we care and they also could express their opinions about the methods of solving them.

Lobbying and Advocacy Program

Being a law student and a volunteer for over 3 years, I started to think that it would be great to improve my practical skills somewhere, in the law sphere. An internship would be a perfect solution for me, that is why I asked Viorel from the office if he could help me with some information.

In couple of hours Viorel called several people and found some opportunities for me. Besides that he mentioned it when talking to Evghenii Golosceapov, our executive director. So I called him and Jenea said that he will start this Lobbying and Advocacy Program for the first time in Moldova, so I had the possibility to participate in it as an intern.

I was really happy and started my work immediately. I had an interview, where Jenea was asking me all kind of stuff about the lobbying methods and what exactly Amnesty International Moldova did for the last years.

This program is typical for EU sections, as long as Moldova is not part of European Community, we couldn't start it. But they made an exception and now the Moldavian section also has the Lobbying and Advocacy Program.

The lobbying group consists of one main Lobbyist- which is a licensed lawyer and several students. The internship is lasting 6 months. But you can stay as long as you want after 6 months. And you have to spend like 20 hours per week for it.

For me that is a great practice. And as I have one more year to study at the university I will finish my studies having some serious experience.